


When A God Is Forgotten.

by mxphvs



Category: VICTON (Band), X1 (Korea Band)
Genre: I wrote this while sick i'm so sorry, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-22
Updated: 2020-07-22
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:08:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25446643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mxphvs/pseuds/mxphvs
Summary: To save his village from starvation Seungwoo sets out to appease the Forest God.
Relationships: Han Seungwoo/Kang Seungsik
Comments: 4
Kudos: 31
Collections: Challenge #3 — Sound of Silence





	When A God Is Forgotten.

**Author's Note:**

> this is wildly unbeta'd I'm so sorry for any mistakes.

It’s cold.

With each gentle gust, a sharp wind bites at the bridge of Seungwoo’s nose. Only the top half of his face is uncovered. He’s wrapped in tight wool and warm fur. Tucked in, close to his chest is the charm his older sister fashioned from scraps and deer horn.

She had placed the charm around his neck with fragile hands, the conversation between the two of them was silent.

He must be successful.

The rest of the village had pooled together all the materials they had left. Some of the elder men had insisted they assist him, but he had refused. He always held the belief that one must craft his own tools. But he allowed them to bark orders at him, as they gathered around the warmth of the stove drinking berry wine.

The images in his head; his sister, the village elders, all the townspeople who had waved goodbye and wished him luck. They were his driving force. Even as the cold clung to his bones and made his muscles ache.

He walked many miles, with only the thin dark line where gray sky met white ground to tell his way.

Finally, the forest comes into view.

They had angered the Forest God many years ago. They had stripped the landscape of trees, without giving back. Without being thankful. And in return, the forest had retreated, the ground turning dry and brittle. Few things could survive and soon sickness took over.

Few kids survived to remember a childhood, and those that did grew up into adults like his sister, frail and weak. Not Seungwoo, he had grown up strong and sturdy despite the odds. When he reached adulthood, he was given a task not given since before the sickness. A task only he could alone could accomplish.

To walk to the forest and ask for forgiveness.

Here he stood at the entrance at the forest, with the offerings strapped to his back. Find the tallest tree, in the middle of the forest.

As he walked, a rabbit passed by him— his right hand twitched, the urge to take out his bow increased but he ignored the easy prey in front of him. One rabbit would not feed a whole village. He did not want to be disrespectful, to not put forth the offerings and ask for forgiveness first would be sacrilege.

He walked on, deeper into the forest and there he found it. A large pine tree that towers above the others. The offerings he lays out on his mother’s sacred ceremonial cloth are meager but he hopes they will be substantial enough.

He waits, kneeled down, head bent.

He is met with silence.

He continues to wait, in the silence of the forest as frustration grows.

There is nothing, not even a bird song.

He cries out, his sadness echoing off the vast number of trees and ringing in his mind. As he gets up, he spies the rabbit once again and this time he takes out his bow. Hot tears sting his face, for the rabbit will not even last till he reaches his village.

But he cannot release his bow, killing without proper reason is murder and it’s not what he believes.

Lowering his bow, he kneels once again— fatigued.

And then the rabbit changes, it’s ears shorter, rounding out like a humans. It’s eyes once perfectly round, now angled and familiar. Soon, Seungwoo is staring at the Forest God himself. Seungsik, God of the Forest places a hand on his shoulder and Seungwoo feels his tension release.

He never expected a Forest God’s hands to be so warm. The heat reaching past his thick layer of clothes.

Seungwoo gets up, and he shows Seungsik his offerings. He peruses them, feeling the soft, finely woven ceremonial cloth, taking a sip of the berry wine. Theres a smile on his face that reaches into Seungwoo’s chest and grabs at his heart. Squeezing it tight. It’s a smile of a god, long forgotten, being discovered again. Tears are falling again, but they are not the hot tears of disappointment. They are ice cold tears of loneliness realized. How long had he stayed in the forest, waiting? For simple appreciation?

Seungwoo understands now, that the offerings don’t end at what was placed before the pine tree. The rabbit darting in the forest wasn’t a mere test, but also a game from a young god who’s age could match his own. Did the forest treat out of anger, or loneliness?

The outcome of his life was not just luck, but fate.

He reaches out a hand, and Seungsik holds onto it. The heat is still there, but it’s not just the heat of another warm body but warmth of loneliness no more.

* * *

Sunhwa wakes up one morning to the sun peeking out from the grey clouds and a small patch of grass growing from the cold ground, a single pink flower blooming. She understands. Her brother is gone, for he has succeeded. 

The rest of the village finds out when a brown bear marches into their village and lays himself at the feet of the elders.

That night they eat sweet bear stew and celebrate the life of a god in the making.

She marries that summer, and is pregnant by the time fall comes rolling in. But she’s not afraid of winter, for she knows spring will come.

When her child is old enough, the whole family will walk deep into the forest that spring. She will take them to meet their uncle. They will decorate the new shrine, crafted from stone, with offerings all around. A shrine nestled between two large pine trees, larger than all the trees in the forest.

For there are now two gods of the forest, and the forest is no longer forgotten.


End file.
